Binance targets full reopening of withdrawals by next week

Nov 14 (Reuters) – Binance said on Saturday that it aims to reopen withdrawals for all remaining networks and assets by the end of next week, ​as operations normalise for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange ‌after a security breach linked to North Korea saw $6.3 billion stolen from the platform last month.

The Details

“This week, we reopened withdrawals for 87 networks. We will aim to reopen withdrawals for all ‌remaining ​networks and assets by the end ⁠of next week,” the ⁠company said in an X post.

Binance resumed withdrawals in phases earlier this month, after covering 95% of the $6.3 billion in tokens stolen from its platform in ​what experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency theft ever.

The FBI and Binance have said North Korea was ⁠responsible for the Binance hack, ⁠but Pyongyang has denied that. Blockchain investigation ​firms have attributed it to a North Korean group known ​as “TraderTraitor”.

In its initial report on how hackers pulled ‌off the heist, Binance detailed a multi-stage hacking endeavour that began in June and set off a series of security breaches culminating in the theft on October 29.

The theft ⁠has underlined the vulnerability of digital assets to attacks and raised questions about the impact of the hack on Binance, ⁠which has ‌vowed to repay customers in full.

The company’s ⁠finance chief Kaiser Ng left the company just ​over ‌a week after the heist, to pursue ​a new ⁠venture after more than five years at Binance. He was replaced by longtime finance executive Justin Yek, who was most recently vice-president of finance at Airwallex.

(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham and Sathvi G Bhat in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Alexandra Hudson)